6 Ways to Optimise a Website

/in , /by


Are you unsure how to successfully optimize your website? You will be happy to discover we have all the top tips you need to transform your site for the better. Find out where to focus your efforts by reading the six ways to optimize your website.

1. Replace Flash with jQuery

It is time to say goodbye to flash once and for all. On top of a slow load time, flash can also not be viewed on various mobile devices, so it can tarnish the user experience. We therefore strongly recommend removing it from your website and replacing it with jQuery, as it offers the benefits of flash that can be viewed on every mobile device with a faster load time.

2. Upgrade Your Website Hosting

Does your website often struggle with a downtime or slow load time? The fault might lie with your web hosting service. We therefore recommending upgrading your hosting by turning to a more reliable host. For instance, Certa Hosting make it is easy to switch your web hosting for free, and they can customize a hosting plan to ensure it compatible with a WordPress, Magento or Drupal site.

3. Utilize Your Title Tags

Transform your website as soon as today with title tag optimization, which can improve your site’s organic ranking in the search engine result pages. That’s because title tags will indicate to Google what a page is about, so it can improve your results in the search engines, which can drive considerable traffic to a website.

4. Optimize Your Content

In addition to optimizing your title tags, you should also optimize your new and existing content. For instance, include anchor text to link one web page to another, and use header tags and subheadings throughout the content. It’s also advisable to write custom meta descriptions for every web page, which will appear in the search engine results pages and could improve your rank.

5. Incorporate Your Contact Information

Customers can become easily frustrated if they need to turn into a detective to find your company’s contact details – and they will not want to fill in a form to find it. Ensure they can easily connect with your business by visibly display your business address, telephone and email addresses onto your website. Adding your contact information can also aid a local search marketing campaign, too.

6. Update Your Website’s Design

Did you know you have between 3 to five seconds to impress a visitor? If they don’t like what they see, they will quickly click away from your site and visitor an industry rival. If you have an unappealing web design with poor content and a slow load time, you can guarantee you will experience a high bounce rate – and many visitors might never return to your site again. Don’t disappoint visitors and create a clean, aesthetically-pleasing and easy-to-use website that reflects your brand.

Do you have any top tips for website optimization? Please write a comment below.

What Should You Do If Injured At Work

/in /by


If you have been involved in an accident at work, then there are a number of steps that you should take to ensure that you are completely covered, particularly if the cause of the accident wasn’t your fault. Workplace accidents can occur for a number of reasons – negligence from the company that you are working at, or a contracted company such as a cleaning company in your building, faulty equipment, or simple bad luck. Here, we’re taking a closer look at the steps you should take, if you’ve been involved in an accident at work.

Record It

No matter how minor the results of the accident, it is always imperative that you report it and a record of the accident has been made. This can help to ensure that the company are aware of a potentially impending claim that is coming their way, and to ensure that you are seeking appropriate medical advice from the on-site trained first aider. Depending on the industry that you are working in, there are a number of procedures that you may need to go through when you are reporting an accident, but this is imperative. For example, if you are in the construction industry, and you’re not wearing the protective gear that you have been given, then the outcome of the accident could be much worse than if you were. Having some form of record of the accident is also important if you are looking to make a claim against your company.

Go To The Doctors

Going to the doctors is important if you have a minor to severe injury that requires attention. Having this on your medical record will not only support your claim, but seeking appropriate medical advice will ensure that your best interests are kept to. While you may see a sprain as an insignificant injury at the time, it can lead to much bigger problems in the future, so it is important that you get any form of injury seen to immediately, before they become much worse. Even a minor cut could end up infected particularly if it occurred from metal, wood or glass, so seeking medical advice is critical.

Make A Claim

If you are looking to make a claim, then you’re going to need a record of your injury and the accident is going to need to be a result of the company’s negligence. Through this, relevant insurance or claim companies can fill out an accident at work claim calculator to help work out how much you should receive in compensation. There are a number of legal requirements that need to be met when making a claim, so it is important to seek advice prior to attempting to make one, so you are not left without a job and no compensation.

Having an accident at work can be extremely serious in a large number of cases, and these have caused life-changing injuries and in more severe cases, even death. Make sure that you know what to do and who to turn to in the event of an injury at work, so you can take appropriate action.

Gain Their Respect: Be The Best Boss For Your Employees

/in , /by

Being the head of a company and running a business comes with plenty of challenges; you’ll have to navigate your role as the boss day by day and ensure that you deal with things as quickly and efficiently as possible. The greatest assets you have as the leader of your company, are your employees; they are all essential cogs in your machine and need to be happy and motivated to do their job properly. As their boss; your staff will look to you for guidance, advice, and the opportunity to progress and develop alongside the business, so you need to be ensuring that you’re doing all you can to fulfill their needs.

If your team respect you; they’ll listen to you, keep a significant level of communication open with you, and you should be able to run a successful company with their help and dedication. The following are some things to consider to help you be the best boss your employees could ask for, so your business goes from strength to strength with a fully functioning team at the wheel.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Photo courtesy of Pexels

Communication And Feedback

Every employee appreciates the opportunity to share their thoughts, ideas, and worries with senior members of the team. Therefore, you need to ensure that you’re giving your staff ample and regular chances to speak and communicate. Set up brief morning meetings each day, with a longer meeting on a weekly basis. A staff meeting will encourage everyone to share their thoughts and bounce new ideas off one another. It’s also a chance to check on the mood of your company and make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding what needs to done or changed.

Make sure you’re there for one-to-one catch-ups with your employees; you’ll get a thorough understanding of how they’re feeling and you can pass on any feedback or criticism in a professional manner and private setting. You may come across challenging members of staff; you can check out the 10 ways of dealing with insubordination in the workplace and tackle any issues as soon as they arise. The rest of your employees will appreciate the action you’ve taken, and any problematic team members will gain respect for you and should improve.

Reward And Respect

There’s no better incentive to meet and exceed expectations than reward. Figure out what drives your team; get to know them i order to offer a reward that they’ll work hard to achieve. You can also let your team know how much you appreciate them with regular social events, like drinks and a meal, outside of the office environment. Relationships are often strengthened outside of the work setting, and you’ll understand what makes your staff tick a bit better. Take a look at 101 ways to reward employees without giving them cash and get some inspiration to gain their respect.

Try to remember what you wanted from a boss or a leader in the past; be a better version of what you expected, and you’ll have a loyal workforce behind you, ensuring your business progresses and grows.

How To Attract The Right Employees

/in , , /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Finding the right employees is no easy task, but it’s very important. Not having the right people in place can make or break your company. That’s why businesses everywhere are always trying to come up with the precise formula for drawing in the most ideal candidates for the job.

While it’s not going to solve all of your problems, there are important steps a company should take to ensure they’re bringing in worthwhile people to interview. It’s a waste of everyone’s time when the potential hire isn’t a good fit right off the bat. See how to attract the right employees.

Technology

One way to attract candidates is to have updated technology. Having current computers, systems and an IT department is important. All of these aspects help draw in the right people, so they apply for positions at your company. It’s difficult to get any work done without modern technology, and smart candidates will recognize this and run the other way. You need it to do your job too. For example, xcdhr is an easily configured online self-service system for HR visionaries in ambitious, growing firms. This system makes your HR vision a reality by helping you attract and retain talent.

Culture & Strategy

Potential employees want to know that who they’re going to work for has a strategy and all of the latest gadgets and upgrades. Culture includes having a fancy office to display and a great management team to brag about. It encompasses how the teams celebrate successes and what the company does for fun and offers for volunteer opportunities. Candidates want to know that who they’re working for is going to respect their work-life balance desire. Culture is about the people who work there and how they carry themselves. If your culture is very attractive, then let that be known, so the right people come knocking.

Benefits & Incentives

A big magnet for potential hires are the benefits and incentives packages and competitive salary offerings. People want to know they’re going to get paid well and be recognized for their hard work. Emphasize the perks that are available, such as free coffee, a game room and Friday afternoons off. You have to be willing to give if you want to bring in the right people for the job. There are lots of companies out there, and yours needs to be able to compete if you want the best people working for you.

Career Path

It’s likely a potential hire is going to ask you about a career path in the interview. It’s a good idea to have an answer, instead of saying that you’re unsure. People want to visualize their future and know that they could be with your company for years to come. They want to be assured that their salary and bonuses will rise the longer they work for you. Have performance measures in place so you can track how well each employee is doing.

Conclusion

Finding rock star employees is a challenge. Your job becomes easier when you make your company a desirable option for potential candidates who are a good fit. This is how to attract the right employees.

Intelligent Investments To Further Your Career

/in /by

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Regardless of which industry you work in, achieving success is top of the agenda. Whether your definition of accomplishment revolves around money, power or making a difference to the world doesn’t matter. You should always strive to reach those goals. The first step to turning those dreams into a reality is to realize that only you can make it happen.

Taking responsibility today will enable you to make smarter investments for a brighter tomorrow. So, what are the best ways to boost your career prospects for immediate and long-term rewards? Let’s take a closer look.

Become A Leader

As a driven person, you should always be looking to develop new skills and add strings to your bow. Many of the skills needed to thrive will be dictated by the field of work that you’re in. However, there are plenty of traits that bosses in all sectors actively search for. Leadership capabilities are unquestionably among the most sought after traits.

After all, a great leader doesn’t only work to their potential. They additionally help other employees reach theirs, which can be very beneficial for a company. With an Online Bachelor’s in Organizational Leadership Program, you can gain those skills in your time. This enables you to boost your long-term prospects without immediate sacrifices.

Gaining those leadership attributes won’t only help you climb the career ladder. It could additionally provide the confidence and aptitude to start a business of your own.

Communicate Better

Good leadership relies heavily on communication. In truth, though, strong communication links are the heartbeat of all business activities. When you are on the same wavelength as colleagues, customers, and bosses, productivity shoots through the roof. In most cases, that will accelerate progress towards your targets.

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Communication isn’t just about expressing yourself well. You also need to appreciate the other person’s outlook. Whether it’s improving the efficiency of emails or focusing on the listening aspects of human interaction doesn’t matter. Become a better communicator, and it will open up new doors and avenues.

More importantly, those stronger collaborations actively reduce the likelihood of making costly mistakes. Given that those errors can harm your reputation in business for many years, avoiding this problem is essential.

Invest In Your Appearance

In the fierce world of modern business, you need to think of yourself as a personal brand. With this in mind, it’s important to remember that your skills are only one part of the full package. In reality, you will be judged for a whole host of different factors, and your image is one of the first.

You needn’t look like a model unless that is your profession, but you should look presentable. Employers and clients naturally respond to healthier looking people with trusting eyes, even if it’s only on a subconscious level. Getting a little fitter, and finding the right attire for work can make a telling difference.

Meanwhile, you must learn to appreciate the items that may cause negative reactions. If you’re going to have a tattoo, having it on a part of the body that can be easily covered is advised. Likewise, anything that could cause offense should be avoided at all costs. Otherwise, you’ll be limiting your opportunities badly.

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Improve First Impressions

Looking good offers a great foundation for making an instant impact. However, there are many other factors to consider. Because when you strike a chord with an employer, colleague or client straight away, it boosts your hopes of getting the desired outcome.

Before applying for new jobs, you must go the extra mile to perfect your applications. Writing a better cover letter, which is personalized to the specific job, will help. Rather than simply having a resume, why not build a website portfolio? Not only does it show effort, but it gives you a chance to express personality and actually show your worth.

The interview process is still very much the main opportunity to bag yourself a new job. Whether moving to a new company or looking for an internal promotion, conducting the required research into the business is vital. On a similar note, preparing for difficult interview questions can enhance your chances of creating that spark.

Grow Your Network

Good communication with the people you already deal with is one thing. But being able to meet new people is another altogether. Frankly, it’s the latter that often separates the fairly successful individuals from the truly successful ones.

In today’s climate, you can increase your network in many different ways. Attending local business events is still one of the best options out there. The Entrepreneur Guide to LinkedIn Networking highlights the benefits of online interactions too. Become a part of the conversation rather than a spectator, and the rewards will soon start to show.

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article
Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Opportunities can surface from anywhere at anytime. Sadly, that isn’t going to happen if you aren’t known to the people who are looking to fill those positions. Even if those links don’t lead to a direct job offer, it gives you a greater insight into your worth. Far too many people finally to reach their potential due to underestimating themselves. Therefore, this indirect benefit can be telling.

Analyze And Prepare

Certain things in your career may happen due to fate. For most people, the trajectory of a career is determined by effort, efficiency, and organization. Therefore, it’s important to take a step back at regular intervals to see where you stand.

Never be afraid to ask employers or clients for feedback. By definition, we often don’t see our blind spots. So, this analysis can keep you on the right track. Meanwhile, it’s equally vital to have a vision of success. Building a five-year plan will provide guidance. Even if you deviate from the pathway, knowing that each step is in a positive direction will boost your confidence.

Take those steps today to reflect on your current position and future targets. Aside from the motivational benefits, it should allow you to sidestep the obstacles that have been holding you back thus far. Get it right, and a brighter future is virtually assured.